


Chocolate Kiss

by TopazShadowwolf



Category: Deltarune
Genre: Candy Puns, Deltarune Spoilers, Don't know if there is actually a plot, F/M, Just a story with no plot so far at least, Not sure if I will add more chapters later, more fluff than plot, more friendship than ship, puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TopazShadowwolf/pseuds/TopazShadowwolf
Summary: There’s a new shop in town that Toriel has to check out.





	1. A simple meeting...

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t looked yet, but wondering if this is a first for Soriel Deltarune fics. Regardless, this is my first Soriel, Deltarune fic. Hope you enjoy!

Toriel had never seen the wooden structure that sat beside the recently bought house. By the looks of it, she had a feeling it was meant to be a store. It was hard to gauge what the shop sold as most of the sign was scratched off. All that remained was the signs original “S” which now made up the first letter of the store’s name. In red was written “Sans,” which was scrawled on the far end. It looked tacky, or, at least, lazily done. Perhaps, it was just a placeholder. Still, it piqued her interest enough for her to park her van and venture within.

 

Even though the sign said the store was open there was still a mess of boxes and items that still needed to be put away. Judging by the stock, it was a grocery or convenience store. Toriel had yet to see anyone else, shopper or owner. Out of curiosity, she decided to just browse until the shop owner did appear.

 

While she was here, she’d have to remember to restock her personal stash of chocolate kisses. Thanks to Kris’s obsession with chocolate, she can never keep enough to enjoy herself unless she hides it away.

 

As she turned to walk down an aisle, she found her path blocked by a fair-sized box. Looking around, she still didn’t see anyone but spotted a door. It had a sign that said “fire exit” though that was crossed out and “back room” was written in the same sloppy manner as the store’s sign. Perhaps that was where the owner was?

 

“Hello?” She called out, but there was no reply. “I’m going to just move this box a bit,” she said a bit louder, in an attempt to get someone’s attention. Still, she was greeted with silence. With an annoyed sigh, she turned back toward the box in question. It was fairly big, so she figured it must have a lot in it. Bracing herself for the weight, she nearly fell over from her effort when it turned out to be light. Startled, she turned the box a little to see that what she thought was the bottom was actually the top, and that it had already been opened and emptied. Before her now was a short skeleton monster, lying on the floor, stirring slightly as he’d just woken up. He slowly uncurled from his sleeping position that he must have held while napping under the box.

 

“what time is it, bro?” The skeleton mumbled before he blinked up at her.

 

There was a pause as they both just stared at each other, then, as if this awkwardness hadn’t happened, he smiled. “hey, the name’s sans, sans the skeleton, welcome to the shop. if you need help finding anything, let me know.” All throughout saying that, he wore the same smile he had when they stared at each other. She had known skeleton faces don’t reveal much emotion, but his eye sockets did. In that short course of time, they had gone from fuzzy drowsy to startled pinpricks of light, then from startled to a larger surprised, from surprised to a more relaxed appearance, then finally from relaxed to almost cheeky. She’ll have to keep an eye on this skeleton. She knows a prankster when she sees one.

 

“Well, I hope you don’t mind me moving your box and waking you up,” she then moved the box as if she were about to put it back over him, “if you want, I could cover you back up.”

 

“heh, nah, lady,” he chuckled as he stood, scratching lightly at his hip bone in a rather uncouth manner.

 

“Toriel,” she then said, “my name is Toriel.”

 

“pleasure to meetcha, Toriel,” he extended a hand for her to shake and she took it. His smaller skeleton hand practically disappeared in her large paw. But it didn’t vanish unheard. To her surprise, there was a surprisingly loud sound of flatulence upon their hands meeting. Toriel was taken aback for a moment. It didn’t help that his eye lights shrunk a little in surprise. Still, he kept calm, freeing his hand from her own before showing the small object in his palm. “heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. i was meaning on catching a  _ kid _ with this. wasn’t expecting one so tall.”

 

Toriel snorted then laughed. A prankster and a fan of puns. How much better could this trip to the store get? He seemed to beam up at her, his grin appeared more sincere for the moment. “Oh, stop. This lonely, old goat is hardly a kid. Keep that up and I’ll be  _ baa- _ shful.” And now it was his turn to laugh, which was a pleasant deep rumble to hear.

 

Once his chuckles died out, he asked, “now, anything I can help you with or just browsing?”

 

“well, if you don’t mind helping, I would like to buy some kisses,” Toriel smiled pleasantly as she said that.

 

Sans looked away for a moment then he shrugged before glancing back with a grin and wink. “might want to try the flower shop i saw. kinda need  _ tulips _ for that kinda thing.”

 

Toriel felt her face warm as she thought about what she said and how it sounded. “Oh, oh my, I mean chocolate kisses, those small candies,” she hastily said while fighting her want to hide behind her ears. She then glowered as she remembered who ran the mentioned shop. “Besides, there are no kisses there I want.”

 

“you know the guy who works there then?” Sans asked while leading Toriel to a different area in the store.

 

“He is my ex-husband,” Toriel sighed. Chances are he will ask, and right now she didn’t want to discuss it. “We split up recently, I hope you’re fine if we change subjects.”

 

“what subject?” He asked before directing her to his selection of chocolate kisses. “here you go, a skele- _ ton  _ of chocolate kisses. and i have some  _ hugs _ too if you want them.” He said while holding up a bag of the striped chocolate kisses that were called hugs.

 

“Awww, how  _ sweet _ of you,” Toriel replied and they both had a good laugh. She then started to pick out her kisses. Grabbing an extra bag while she was at it. “I have to hide my chocolates in my room and lock the door. My child, Kris, loves chocolate and eats it all up when they can. I’ll hide this bag in the kitchen too, and give them to my child a few pieces at a time. But my child is crafty, and will likely locate them in a few days, regardless.”

 

“heh, sounds like a handful,” Sans said.

 

“Yes, well, Kris can be, but I get the feeling life wasn’t always easy for them. While they outwardly accepted being adopted I don’t think they fully did. Kris hides their personality and interests. They only bonded with my son, Asriel. But now that he’s at college, I think Kris has grown lonely. I think they would be happier if they made some friends. It doesn’t help that Kris is human and quiet.”

 

“oh, i’ve heard about your kid. kinda hard to miss hearing about a human in a town of monsters.” Sans then paused in thought. “if you don’t mind, my little bro could use a friend. with us being new here, he’s hoping to make a lot of new friends. why not have your kid be his first?”

 

“Oh! That sounds like a nice idea,” Toriel smiled and they both moved to the front of the store so she could pay.

 

After the exchange of money, Sans winked. “it was nice meeting you, toriel.”

 

“Tori is fine,” she said with a smile. She then tore open a bag with a claw and pulled out a kiss which she lightly pressed again his skull. “It was a pleasure meeting you, as well, Sans the skeleton.”

 

He took the offered chocolate kiss, grinning. There was a hint of embarrassment there, small beads of magic-made sweat appearing on his skull. That was rather forward of her, though he didn’t seem put off by it. Instead, he chuckled, “awww, tori, you stole my breath away. which, uh, isn’t such a feat since i don’t have lungs.”

 

They both laughed and finally said goodbyes, Toriel promised she’ll be stopping in again. Sans seem really happy about that. And, for that moment, Toriel didn’t feel as lonely as she had. She had made a new friend, one, she hoped, would last.


	2. And then she was mad...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone finds out about something someone said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no intent on continuing this. Non at all. Well... at least until the game continues. But as I started to open "The Door" to work on that, my brain said, "But what if Toriel found out about the joke?" After a short fight that I lost with my brain, I wrote this. Thank you [Kate](https://obsessedkatie.tumblr.com/) for editing this.

With his brother’s help, Sans now had the store looking operational. Though, in a quiet town like this, that hardly mattered. It was calm enough in the store that he could have slowly chipped away at the work for a week and have been done all the same. It would have given him something else to do other than sit behind the counter and try not to fall asleep; which he failed. As a consolation for this boring task, it was his store that he ran, therefore, he got to pick his own hours. That also meant he decide when his breaks were. He took advantage of that and took as many 15+ minute naps as he wanted in order to make up for the skull-numbing dullness of it all. Besides, there was one of those annoying bell/buzzer things to alert him when a customer entered the store. It woke him up enough to be present for whatever it was he needed to do, but often he was still drowsy. It wasn’t a problem with most of his customers; though, he learned the hard way that he needed to keep a closer socket on some of the kids. 

 

They’ll pay for the stolen candy in time. He’ll be keeping a running tab for them in the meantime.

 

Thinking of kids, he thought about Tori’s human child who stopped by to talk to him earlier. That kid was a bit of a character. Talking to Sans as if they knew each other when Sans had just moved in. Their choice of people for him to meet seemed just as odd. What kid insists that a stranger, they just met, should become friends with their divorced mom? Not that they were wrong about the friend potential there. Tori was a friend, that’s for sure. Still, most kids he knew would be more inclined to tell him to stay away from their mom. And, he supposed there was a good reason for that. His response to the kid was proof of that.

 

Maybe he shouldn’t have said he befriended Tori the way he did. Granted, the kid was just asking for it when they answered him with “my mom.” Some might think his joke was rude or inappropriate, but he didn’t care. It’s not like there’s a council of comedians out there to regulate when mom jokes are permitted to be used. Still, he was sure some folks would say using one on a child who was seriously trying to help was wrong. 

 

Eh, he wasn’t going to worry about it, it’s not like that joke was going to bite him in the coccyx later. It was just that, a dumb joke told on a whim. His further explanation after the joke smoothed things over, anyway. The kid knew he wasn’t being serious. They’ve most likely heard worse “Mom jokes” at school.

 

That school must be an interesting place. He couldn’t help but find that one teacher, Alphys, a bit weird. She didn’t seem like a bad person, and they could possibly become friends, like Tori’s kid suggested. It would take a while though, she definitely left a lasting impression, just not a very positive one. There has to be more there that he could learn about.

 

That one police officer, who all but kicked in the door earlier that day, was another character. She bought all he had in stock of sports drinks and an unhealthy amount of energy drinks; the latter he was sure she didn’t even need. Papyrus would probably like her. She was loud, active, and full of energy, just like him. She made it clear to Sans that he didn’t meet her standards for what she considers to be an upstanding citizen. Even though being caught napping on the job isn’t illegal, apparently she found it was grounds for a lecture.  (At the end of which he was informed that if he wasted her time like that again he’d be fined. It’s not like he asked for a reminder of the importance of watching out for thieves.)

 

Well, moving here was proving to be far more interesting than he had expected. Small towns were like this. They make up for the lack of people with a surplus of personality. He’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out. With luck, he’ll make enough positive connections to avoid getting run out of town.

 

At the end of the day, he flipped the sign to “closed” and locked the door before he muddled through the list of things he needed to do. It was all things that would prepare the store for the next day, which, doing so in advance would give him time to sleep in the next morning. Once done with this, he could amble on home for the night. He worked on a few things prior to closing; and, if he planned it right, Sans should be home in time for dinner as well as reading to his brother before bed. 

 

It was all going well when he heard a knock at the door. He had heavily considered ignoring it, but money is money and the house won’t pay for itself. He could at least pull a prank on whoever this was while he was at it.

 

“who’s there?” He asked, hoping to get some fun out teasing this person.

 

"Toriel." The response was short, with a hint of annoyance in the tone. Sans found it a little odd that Tori used her full first name. Last he checked, they were on a nickname basis. Granted, his name can't really get much shorter than it already was. But when they talked, she did say that just Tori was fine. 

 

Still, she should be able to read and see that his store was closed. So, he decided to continue his bit of fun. "toriel, who?" He asked, with a grin.

 

"I'll give you a tu-toriel on how to knock in a door if you don't open this one right this instant."

 

Ooooh boy, she sounded mad. Maybe he should have given up on the little game after all. What had upset her that much? Despite his better judgment, he unlocked the door and opened it, letting her in even though his survival instincts were telling him he should be barricading the door instead. "h-heya, tori..." She looked even angrier when he used the nickname. Welp, looked like they really are back to full names. "toriel... what's up?"

 

"Why did you hint that you and I did more than have a friendly chat?"

 

Sans looked up at her, noticing for the first time just how sharp her teeth were. The desire to make it out of this with his skull on his shoulders made him play innocent and he gave her a confused look, “uh... what?"

 

"Do NOT make me repeat myself, Sans the skeleton.” Oh, that hurt to hear coming from her. He never before would have thought his own name could be used against him. It fully accented just how angry she really was. “Not only did you say such a thing but you said it to  _ my child _ !"

 

Did the kid rat on him over a joke? Didn't seem like something they would do. Granted, he didn't know Kris. This was a small town, maybe someone overheard the conversation and couldn't keep what they heard to themselves.  Not that it mattered how she found out. Either way, he now had an angry mother glaring down at him as if she was going to tear his limbs off any moment. Sans rubbed the back of his neck, thinking what he should do to smooth this over.

 

Alright, he just needed to stay calm and not admit guilt. Technically, he didn't  _ say _ anything wrong. He did befriend Toriel, he just didn't "befriend" her. It wasn't the words, it was inflection. It was a matter of interpretation. Someone innocent minded might not even make the leap of thought his small innuendo hinted at. They just might have thought that they were close friends now or something. Now to convince her that he meant nothing by what he said.

 

"oh, yeah, i talked to your kid earlier. said i already befriended you because they, uh... suggested you as a possible friend," he said. It seemed like a decent start but it was clear his words weren't winning her over. She continued to glare down at him like he had gone around town telling everyone straight out that they had done the deed.

 

"Oh, yes, I heard about how you ‘befriended’ me last night," she said in a tone that had an underlying growl.

 

He was actually impressed at how spot on she mimicked the way he said that word. Though, he hardly doubted she’d want to hear that. Well, some jokes are best left unsaid. Perhaps it was time for a council of comedians to form and set the parameters for the when and where certain jokes could be told. "come on, tori- toriel, i was just telling your kid that we were already friends. you can't tell me there is harm in that."

 

Maybe it was time to admit guilt and beg for forgiveness because she now looked like she was ready to kill him. "There IS harm if you say it the way you did!"

 

Not fully ready to back out, he tried one more. At the same time, though, his resolve was failing as he took a step back and held his hands up. "i can't be responsible for how someone interprets what i say. if the kid took it the wrong way, i'm sorry. i didn't mean to suggest that.” That was a lie but, at the same time, it was true. If he had said the same words without the inflection, he could still be in the same spot if the kid took it the wrong way. The word itself could have been taken completely innocently even with the change in vocal tone. He can’t be held responsible for how others think. 

 

It was just supposed to be a dumb joke, but even it wasn’t a complete lie. The inflection was, but he did make friends with her… right? “i mean, we just met but i really thought of you as a friend. you’re a nice lady with a great sense of humor, and..." Maybe he should stop there before his mouth got him in more trouble. After all, he wasn't completely opposed to the thought of being more than friends with her, but Sans would far prefer to get to know her first.

 

For a moment longer, she continued to glare at him and gave no hint to let him know if she was buying what he said. Eventually, her expression softened and she sighed. “Alright, Sans, just please don’t do that again.”

 

"heh, alright, tori, i promise i won't do that again," Sans said, feeling himself begin to relax, hopefully, that was over and they can go back to being friends.

 

Toriel got an odd look on her face though, an odd angry grin. Sans looked up at her, feeling his nervousness return. He looked around, ready to find a way to escape from this encounter. Lesson learned, next time he closed up shop he wasn’t going to answer a knock at the door. Unfortunately, when he took the step back earlier, he cornered himself with a wall behind him and shelves to his side. There was a small gap to his right side, but she was still between him and the door, leaving him at her mercy. This made her sudden change back to anger scare him, as he had no idea what caused it and how far her fury will take her.

 

"So,  you admit that you did do something?" She asked, sounding as if she knew she just caught him.

 

And she did. The feel of his vertebrae against the wall was a reminder of just how caught he was. There was no running away or talking himself out of this. She trapped him, verbally and physically.

 

If he had been truthful and hadn’t made that stupid joke, like he was trying to convince her, he wouldn't have felt himself start to sweat.  He hesitated, unsure if there was any way left to salvage this. A bead of magic trickled down his skull as he stammered, “w-well, uh... the thing..."

 

She sighed and shook her head before folding her arms. The pressure was gone and he no longer felt so trapped even though she still blocked the way. The look of anger had just simply lessened and he felt like this time it would stay that way. “Don't lie to me, or make such jokes like that to my child again."

 

He stood there like a scolded child and nodded, "alright, toriel."

 

"Tori is fine," She then said. "Don’t think I'm not still mad, but I know you didn't mean ill by your... crass joke. When we met, I had a feeling you were the prankster type.” She then moved to his candy aisle and picked up a bag of Sour Patch and Milk Duds which she then threw at him a little harder than needed, but with no intent to harm. "I figure we can work through this  _ sour patch _ in our friendship. After all, I can't expect all your jokes to not be  _ duds _ ."

 

He caught the candies and chuckled as he looked at them. The fear from earlier felt unfounded now, more of something he brought upon himself. Accepting this, he then walked over and picked up an Air Heads and handed that to her. "heh, yeah, with a skull as empty as mine, you can expect some  _ air head _ ed pranks."

 

"Indeed." She said, still sounding cross, but there was now a playful side showing. She then fell silent for a moment, taking on a very sober look as she turned away from him. There was such a heavy look to her as if there was a sudden weight on her shoulders. A weight, that in truth, she had been carrying for a while. "I felt so... betrayed when I heard that. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, but it did."

 

Ouch. Yeah, in hindsight, he could easily see how a joke like that could have been hurtful to her. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck bones. "sorry, tori."

 

"I forgive you," she said with a quiet smile, but he could still see how his words really had left her wounded. He then remembered something had to cause her to break up with her husband, something that must have hurt her, left her feeling, as she said, betrayed. He will have to try harder not to break the trust he started to form. And repair what damage he had done.

 

"thanks, tori," he said softly. She started to put the Air Head back but he spoke up. "keep it, if you want."

 

She paused and looked at the candy for a moment before handing it to him. "Maybe you should keep it, as a reminder to think your jokes and pranks through."

 

Sans took the candy back and looked at it. He looked down at the smiling balloon on the wrapper which grinned stupidly back up at him. It was like he was staring at himself. "maybe i should. you want or need anything while you're here?"

 

"I don't want any gifts to beg for forgiveness if that's what you're hinting at." She, again, sounded cross, but this time he had a feeling it wasn't him that anger was directed at.

 

"more like a gift of friendship, but i’m not opposed to you paying if you want. i do need money to for bills, after all," He shrugged.

 

There was a pause before she looked at him. "I'm sorry, I'm just worn out from gifts. It doesn't feel sincere when someone makes a mistake and then tries to correct it with a gift only to repeat their actions or... never fully apologize. Forgiveness isn't meant to be bought."

 

"i'm guessing we're talking about your ex now?" Sans asked.

 

"He sent my child home with a bunch of flowers, again. Lately, he hasn't been sending as much, so I thought he was getting the hint," Toriel huffed.

 

"i'm sure he's just trying to make you happy, not annoy you," Sans said, hoping he could help ease her mind over this.

 

"But that's the thing. He is trying to do so by ignoring the problem. Sure he may say he is sorry, but it doesn't feel like the sorry you just gave. There is no reflection on what got us to this point. It feels like he is just sorry he made me upset and not what he did to upset me. I don't want him to be sorry for how I feel. I want him to be sorry for what he did." Toriel turned to Sans, and he could see the pain in her eyes. It made more sense now, why her feeling Sans betrayed her resulted in such an angry reaction. “I know people in town think I need to take him back and ‘get over myself.’ I hear their whispers and see the looks. But, do I really need to swallow my pride to return to a relationship that was just causing me emotional pain? Just because he is sad I need to ignore my feelings? I shouldn’t be put in a situation where I feel obligated to forgive someone because they gave me something… right?”

 

She just poured her soul out to him, laying her burdened thoughts before a skeleton she  _ just _ met and yelled at. Turned out that his wounding joke ended up exposing this pain. Now he needed to respond, help her to make up for the pain he caused and aid her with healing. "well, you’re right, it's not his place to be sorry for your emotions, that's for you to deal with. but his actions he is responsible for," Sans then thought for a moment. He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "i know you already forgave me, but seriously, i'm sorry... and for lying. that was really a boneheaded thing for me to do. and, while I think eventually forgiving him too would be good for you, you shouldn’t feel forced to, or feel you need to return to a situation you were unhappy in for his sake."

 

Toriel looked at him for a moment, then smiled as tears formed in her eyes. She needed to hear that, to know she wasn’t being selfish. The smile she gave really started to look happy and he hoped it stayed this time. "Thank you, Sans, and again, I forgive you.

 

She then assisted him as he returned to preparing the shop for the next day. It was odd, really, having the company, but he liked it. They laughed and joked, which made the time go by too fast. Once done, they both left the shop together, said goodbyes, then turned to go. His house wasn’t far, but already, he was feeling lonely. To chase away that feeling, he focused on what he now had to do. There was still dinner and reading to Papyrus before going to bed. Still, he remembered how hurt she looked, and how he never wanted to cause her to look that way again. Before he opened his front door he looked back at the shop. It will be interesting to see how life in this town goes from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have more fics and such on my [Tumblr](https://topazshadowwolf.tumblr.com/), I'll try making it easier to find them. Feel free to contact me there or here.


	3. Someone New Visits the Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore visits the store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to stop, I have other things to write. I need to set this on the back burner and throw and update at it on rare occasions.

Running a store took far more energy than he thought it would. The first days of being open were slow as the citizens of the town were still discovering the new shop. Now that word had gotten around, it was becoming much busier.  As soon as he opened the store this morning a group of police officers, led by the fish monster Undyne, came barging in buying a hoard of donuts, coffee, other pastries, snacks, and drinks. By the time they had left, it felt like a massive whirlwind had blown through. Even as the majority of the group had left some of the figurative storm remained behind. Contrary to his belief that she’d rather not have to deal with him, Undyne was still there talking to him for reasons he couldn’t figure out.

“Here’s an idea,” she started, taking a bite out of a donut she had yet to pay for. At this point, he didn’t care. She could have it for free as long as she makes it a point to meet his brother. If she doesn’t, he’ll just add it on the bill next time she stopped in.

Before it disappeared with the rest, Sans grabbed himself a jelly-filled donut and started to eat it with some milk. Technically, he had grabbed two donuts for himself, but Undyne had snatched the second one right out of his hand and started feasting on it. All the more reason he wasn’t going to be picky about her paying; after all, he wasn’t going to pay for it either. Still, he had been hungry and would have liked to have had it, instead of her grabbing it and declaring she was “looking out for his health.” He had been late leaving home that morning and missed breakfast. He’ll count this as an early break since it wasn’t so busy. He’ll also remember to make sure Undyne was gone before eating anything from now on.

When Undyne couldn’t continue because she still needed to clear her mouth, Sans nudged a bottle of milk towards her. Again, it was something he could charge her for if she didn’t uphold her promise. She opened it and downed half of it before slamming the container down. “Hot fridges!”

That… that was not what he expected to hear. “hot... fridges?”

“Yeah! See, you have those freezers and fridges that keep all the food cold, but what if you had a thing like them but they keep food hot or warm,” Undyne smiled big as she said that.

Sans raised a brow ridge, trying to understand where this “idea” was coming from. “okay, i guess i need to  _warm_  up to the idea. just, uh… why?”

Undyne glared at him for the pun or the questioning of her idea, possibly both. “Why? Because hot food is better than cold food. That’s why!”

“yeah, ok,” Sans said as he reached over and grabbed Undyne’s giant, insulated, coffee mug. He let her fill her own mug, instead of filling up a bunch of cups. It seemed fair and will keep him from running out of coffee cups. Considering her, though, he couldn’t help but wonder if she’s drinking too much caffeine. The stuff was technically a drug. “i think it’s time i cut you off,” he joked, though a small part of him wanted to be serious.

“Take my coffee and I’ll book you for theft,” Undyne growled, showing off her dangerous looking teeth. Though, he believed she was joking too as there was a hint of a grin on her face.

Sans released her mug and held his hands up in surrender. “whatever you say, officer. i’ll keep the, uh… hot freezers in mind.”

“YOU BETTER! It’s the best idea! You could sell a lot of awesome precooked food!” Undyne said as she finally grabbed her things and started out.

Sans thought for a moment, returning to eating his donut. Precooked food did seem like a good idea after all. Though he still wasn’t sure about a “hot fridge,” she may be on the right track.  He’s just a little confused on how to properly use her idea. Sans finished his breakfast and got up. The snacks weren’t going to restock themselves.

He went in the backroom and dug out a box of snack foods to restock the shelves the officers had left bare. As he walked out of the stockroom he heard the annoying buzz/ding indicating that someone had entered the store. Perhaps, if he could figure out if that sound was meant to be a buzz or a bell he wouldn’t find it so annoying. The fact he can’t tell what it was, made the sound irritating. Though, that might be why his bro selected it. Papyrus most likely also knew Sans would be too lazy to change the sound, no matter how annoyed he got. “hello,” Sans said, not looking to see who walked in yet. “if you need help, let me know.”

“Oh, well, I’m here to talk to you, actually,” replied the customer. That was odd, he tried to think what he might have done to upset someone to cause them to want to talk with him. But, as far as he could tell there wasn’t anything that he had said or done that he hadn’t already been yelled at for. Other than that “befriended” joke, he had been trying his best to make a good impression for the sake of… well… the whole reason why he chose to move to this town. Curious, Sans set the box down and headed to the front of the store.

“alright, uh, what’s up?” Sans asked, but he quickly had an answer. This guy was up. He was tall. Granted, nearly everyone looked tall to Sans, but this guy was taller than most people he had considered tall.

“Howdy!” The goat monster said with a smile. In his hands was a vase with some flowers, which he handed to Sans. “I wanted to welcome you to the town. As a fellow shopkeeper, I thought I should take the time to come over and see how you were doing and if you needed any help.”

“oh, uh… thanks?” Sans looked at the flowers he was now holding. He then turned and put them on the counter as he looked them over more. Those flowers couldn’t be cheap. That flower shop must be making this guy plenty of money if he was willing to just give away flowers like that. “they look... nice. thanks for the welcome, i think i’m doing alright, though. if i do need help, i’ll know to ask… uh…”

“Oh, how rude of me, I’m Asgore Dreemurr.”

“asgore, pleasure to meetcha. the name’s sans, sans the skeleton.”

Wait, didn’t Tori say her Ex ran the flower shop? So then, Asgore was that guy? He didn’t seem like a bad person and Sans couldn’t help but wonder what it was that caused the two to get a divorce. Perhaps it was because he was friends with Toriel, but this meeting suddenly felt awkward. Asgore seemed oblivious to that, though. This guy wasn’t what Sans imagined when Tori was talking about her Ex last night. His imagination had conjured up a real jerk or creep, not this person with a large happy smile and friendly gaze. Though, in retrospect, Tori most likely wouldn’t have married him in the first place if he had been like the monster Sans had made up in his mind. She would have avoided a guy like that if that was the case. Which brings back the question of what happened? Anyway, as much as he wondered about why it really wasn’t his place to know. If Tori wanted to tell him, then, and only then, he would know.

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Sans the Skeleton.” Asgore extended a paw to Sans, and Sans took it. His far smaller boney hand easily disappeared as if engulfed by the larger furry paw. Ever so gently, Sans felt Asgore’s claws tap on his bones as they shook hands. It was not a threat and was unintentional most likely. Like most monsters with paw-like hands, claws were just part of the deal. He had felt claws against his bones when shaking hands plenty of times. As long as he isn’t scratched, he has never minded that feeling. Yet, at that moment, it almost sent a shiver up his spine.

The more Sans looked at the guy, the more he saw that nothing about this guy hinted he would even threaten a fly. Still, that light contact of those sharp claws reminded Sans that this seemingly harmless monster still had his teeth, claws, and magic. As much of a pacifist this guy was, he could still fight. And he was still trying to regain Tori’s affections. Trying harder than Sans ever would have. Chances are if Asgore felt threatened by Sans, there was little Sans could do to not be dusted by the guy. If the far smaller and fragile skeleton had any sense of self-preservation he’d make sure his friendship with the lady in question stayed just that.

And yet…

“Well, I should be going,” Asgore said with the same bright, happy smile. “I have a shop to run…”

“you need anything while you’re here? even if you can’t keep ‘em at your shop, i can have the stuff dropped off later,” Sans figured the guy had to need something, and if he had the cash as the flowers hinted, it would be best to encourage business.

“Oh, well, thank you, but no… I… well… I’m running a little short this week,” Asgore admitted.

That caused Sans to pause in thought. Then he started to put all the small and subtle clues together. First, there was Tori, who was just in here last night complaining about the flowers Asgore gives her. Then he remembered that, just the other day, he saw an alleyway with trash cans packed full of well-tended flowers. He thought it was odd then but didn’t think much on it at the time. Now, though, he couldn’t think of anywhere else those flowers could have come from other than Asgore’s Flower show. Now Asgore, the flower shop owner who should be trying to earn money with the flowers he grows, just gave him, Sans the skeleton, expensive looking flowers as a welcome gift.

Asgore wasn’t bringing in a lot of money, he was bleeding it with his overly generous behaviors. Instead of selling his flowers, Asgore was giving them away to his ex-wife and anyone else he thought needed a smile from having a bright bunch of flowers. Sans inwardly winced with a sudden pang of guilt. Here the guy was being nice and Sans tried using that kindness for personal gain. The vase of flowers was a kind gift that Sans didn’t even know if the guy could even really afford. At this point, he couldn’t pay for those flowers or reject them and tell Asgore to go sell them. If he tried to, it would come off as an insult. Judging by how Asgore seems to be, he’d most likely be hurt by that, but hold all the pain inside.

Geez, this guy was almost hopeless with his poor business skills, but he made up for that by being easily likable. No wonder people were bugging Tori about taking him back. If they were only looking at it from Asgore’s side, they would feel sympathy for the guy and just want to see him happy. But Sans still stood by what he said to Tori. If she didn’t want him back in her life, she shouldn’t feel forced to take him back. It’d be worse if she did, for both of them.

Sans put his hands in his pockets and thought for a moment. “that’s alright,” he finally said, kicking himself for what he was about to do. He shouldn’t be so nice, he needs the money, but he wasn’t going to let someone go hungry. If he didn’t do this, he knew he would only feel guilty for turning him away. After all, Asgore did ask Sans if he needed any help. He should return the favor. “i’ll open a tab for you and you can pay it off later.” Though at the rate Asgore was going, Sans wasn’t going to hold his breath. Chances are, he’ll never see that money, but who knows, maybe he will. “us shop owners gotta stick together, right?”

“Thank you,” Asgore said with a bright smile. Something Sans said must have lifted his mood, as Asgore happily accepted the offer. He then grabbed a few things that he apparently needed. It really was just a few; obviously, he didn’t want to take advantage of Sans’s generosity which Sans was thankful for. Asgore had grabbed only the bare essentials, that’s for sure. Sans was tempted to add a few things to the bag to give the guy a few more things that he may need. But he decided not to push it at this point. Sans made a note of what Asgore got and the cost then waved the guy goodbye.

After he was alone again, Sans sat there a moment and sighed. He looked at the flowers, understanding now what Tori meant about feeling guilted into forgiving him. By no means was Asgore trying to guilt Sans into being nice, the guy was genuinely trying to be kind. There was no malice there or ill intent. The guy really just wanted Sans to feel welcomed to the area. And while Sans didn’t need to open the tab, seeing how everything was it just felt rude not to return the favor. It would be awesome if they lived in a world where they could just forget about money and all be kind like that. Or if the flowers had just been a simple bunch without the vase, Sans wouldn’t have felt such a need to pay Asgore back. Not that he felt bad that he had helped the guy, as it was clear Asgore needed help. But, Sans had this job for a reason. And while Sans could afford to do this with one customer (plus the kids who he’ll have to keep a socket out for), he can’t do this for everyone. Not if he wanted to keep his house.

Regardless, Sans might be heartless in the literal sense, but he wasn’t figuratively. He’ll keep this running tab for the guy because he was nice and deserved a break. It might not be the break Sans was sure Agore really hoped for, the one where Toriel forgave him and took him back. But it was still a chance for him to not feel so stressed by needs. After Sans’ talks with Toriel, he was surprised Asgore was still hoping for Tori to take him back, but that seemed to be the obliviousness of him. He must not be picking up on the cues Toriel was giving him. At least Toriel seemed alright with her kid visiting Asgore, which he was sure brought the guy some joy. So, hopefully, she won’t mind her friend being nice to her ex-husband. She didn’t seem the vindictive type to Sans… maybe a bit bitter, but not vindictive. Angry, but not hateful. Willing to speak ill of Asgore but not do anything against him.

But then, Sans didn’t know her that well, yet. This was just his first and second impressions. But last night… she really opened up to him. If there was hate there, he didn’t sense it from her. Who knows, there might be hope for the guy after all.

…

Thinking back to last night and that look on her face while she spoke about Asgore, Sans doubted it. Add in what she said, he was sure that even if Tori did forgive the guy that the relationship was still over. And perhaps it was best for the both of them. They would have a chance to find someone new. Someone who would love them and be there for them. Someone who Tori could be open with and feel comfortable with.

A person who shares her sense of humor and loves to hear her laugh.

… huh… at some point, he stopped thinking of the two and just thought about Tori...

He got up from his stool and went back to restocking the snacks. It was time for him to turn his focus back to everything he needed to do and stop thinking about Tori. All these thoughts of Toriel were reminding him of the sound of her laugh and how wonderful that boisterous sound was. Her clever wordplay. Really, there was a lot about her that was beautiful. Even when she was glaring down at Sans with all her wrath behind her gaze.

… He had no sense of self-preservation, did he?

And this was just the start of the day, he didn’t even have his lunch break yet.


End file.
